


New Year's Eve Alone

by mandapandabug



Category: Naruto
Genre: F/M, M/M, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-27
Updated: 2020-12-27
Packaged: 2021-03-11 00:53:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,685
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28356525
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mandapandabug/pseuds/mandapandabug
Summary: Iruka was tired of not having anyone to kiss on New Year's eve. He would change that this year, he was determined! Lucky for him, Kakashi showed up just in time.
Relationships: Hatake Kakashi/Umino Iruka, Maito Gai | Might Guy/Mitarashi Anko
Comments: 4
Kudos: 64





	New Year's Eve Alone

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first post. I have so many more fics on the back-burner, but I thought this needs to get out before the new year. I don't have a beta, so sorry it there are any silly typos or if the story makes no sense. I honestly got the little writer's bunny hopping around in my head and had to type this out and just send it off. Let me know what you think! Anyway, I don't own Naruto or any character named in this story... There would be WAY more Iruka if that were the case. Do we have to disclaim that anymore? ("back in my day" rant deleted for character limits)

Iruka strolled up to the party without any rush. He was invited, as he was every year, to Anko’s New Year’s Bash and just like every year he came alone. He never really thought about it before, he lived alone and never dated anyone, so of course he would come alone. And when the midnight bell chimed, he would get some cheek kisses and he would finish his champagne and go home. Alone.

However, this was the first year that Iruka really thought about that as a negative. Naruto was dating Hinata now. He was happy and in love and probably going to get married soon. Naruto, who was so lonely for so long, like Iruka was. Naruto, the orphan who was shunned by almost the entire village until very recently. But never by Hinata. Iruka had watched her blush at Naruto, it was sweet, and now they are in love.

Iruka never thought about it before. Iruka thought he was fine as a loner. Iruka thought there was no need for a partner. Now he isn’t so sure. Naruto seemed good on his own, before he realized he reciprocated Hinata’s feelings. He has so many friends and so many precious people (Iruka included). Seeing Naruto now, happy and in love, there was a huge difference. Naruto was calmer (not calm, but calmer), he was less scatterbrained, he was more balanced and he was happier. It was so interesting. Iruka, for the first time, wondered what he was missing? Would be better in love? Should he open himself up to that? He never opened up to love before. The closest he got since his parent’s death was the friendly love he had for Mizuki, which burned him so deeply he held everyone at arm’s length for years after.

Now he was facing the New Year’s party. Every year he had seen the couples (minutes together or years), kiss at midnight. Before he only had a very mild sting at not having the same, it was barely there, the feeling that he was missing out. Now he felt it amplified in his memories. He had wasted years not looking or trying. He was alone. Now his single dinners were a chore, his single life was a chore, cleaning just his small load of clothes was a chore. It was all Naruto’s fault.

Iruka shook his head clear of such thoughts. It was not Naruto’s fault that he found love. Iruka knew that, and he was so happy for the boy (young man really). It didn’t make it any easier that all the young ninja were finding each other and falling in love. It also didn’t help that Naruto barely had to work for his love. Hinata was in love with him for years. He just had to open his eyes and he had unconditional love. Naruto deserved it, though he was a lucky jerk just the same.

Iruka opened the door to a raver. Anko always threw rambunctious parties, so this was nothing new. It was already 11:30 PM and he was pretty late. Iruka was not normally late, but he was mustering the courage to come and make bold moves.

Looking around the room, there were already many couples, or at least people who have partnered up for the evening. There were also a lot of his former students. Well they were all off limits for his plans.

“Iruka-sensei!” Sakura walked up to him. She looked fetching in a shiny dress (women always wore shiny dresses at New Year’s for some reason).

“Hello Sakura! How are you this evening?” Iruka asked politely, but as the kunoichi approached, Iruka noticed her stumbling with drunkenness. 

“Iruka-senseeeeei, I wanted to talk to you, because you’re alone, right?” Sakura asked without even looking in his eyes or waiting for a response, “you know how hard it is! And now Naruto is with someone. I wouldn’t have been with him ever but he’s happy. It’s good, but what about me? Where is Sasuke?” Ino appeared at the mention of Sasuke, slipping in under Sakura’s elbow to hold her friend steady. Her own shiny dress much tighter and much more revealing than Sakura's. Her clothing always was nowadays.

“Hello Iruka-sensei,” Ino sounded slightly more sober at least. “I’m sorry for her, she is feeling sorry for herself since Sasuke is still not back and may never be. It’s hard for her. I’ll just make Lee kiss her to make her forget.” At that Sakura blanched and practically ran away from her friend. Ino laughed and chased Sakura down again.

Iruka was very confused. It was amusing and sad at the same time. He wasn’t the only one Naruto woke up from a spell of loneliness it seemed. Sakura must be feeling very strange, since she always got validation from Naruto chasing her around.

Now she had no Sasuke, who she was clearly still in love with, and no Naruto to make her feel desirable. He hoped that Sakura would be OK, but she was a woman now, she could handle herself.  
Iruka had his own problems to deal with.

Lee, or rather, Lee’s feet were next to greet him. “Iruka-sensei! I heard my name so I came over to see what was happening.” Lee flipped off his hands and onto his feet as he spoke. It was a clean move, but also his hands were just all over Anko’s dirty floor.

“Lee-kun, please make sure you clean your hands before you touch anything or eat anything.” Iruka was worried about his health being on those hands so often. It was sweet he tried to emulate his mentor, but he really should be careful.

“Iruka-sensei!! You are wiser and more thoughtful than ever! In youth we often forget of the dangers, take note Lee, that you should use warm water and soap for 30 seconds at least. I personally wash for a full minute before I move on to eat or touch anyone else!”

Iruka knew that voice before he looked over at the large thighs in his personal space. Gai was an imposing man before the loss of limb. Even in his wheelchair he looked incredibly strong, so much more muscular than Iruka was at least. Seeing his thick thighs so close to his face was causing a fierce blush to erupt on Iruka.

Lee heard those words and ran to the bathroom to wash his hands for 2 minutes! He would not let his sensei down. When he was alone with Gai, the older jonin spun in what looked like a dance move and was suddenly in his chair. “That was lovely.” Iruka said it without thinking, gawking at himself after.

Gai looked pleased, preening at the praise. Iruka never in his wildest, weirdest dreams, ever thought about Gai in any romantic sense. He wasn’t sure if he could handle the man honestly.

Luckily, Iruka was spared any further consideration when Anko herself plopped down on Gai’s lap. “Hello Iruka! What took you so long? All the catches are getting caught,” Anko winked at Iruka and wiggled in Gai’s lap. The man blushed worse than Iruka and said something about youth, but Iruka couldn’t stand there any longer. He knew Anko now knew he was planning something. There was that glint in her eye she got when she read his mind as easily as a children’s book!

Iruka walked into the living room, it was already 11:50, and Anko wasn’t kidding. All the ninja were partnered up it seemed. (or they were way too young!) He waited too long to arrive it seemed. Ebisu was standing in the corner alone, and Iruka walked over to greet his colleague.

“Hey, Ebisu-sensei! How are you?” Iruka walked up all smiles for his friend. Ebisu wasn’t the nicest person, he wasn’t nice to Naruto originally and he was kind of a dirty pervert, but he was a colleague and he helped Iruka with some teaching techniques in the past, so he forgave Ebisu. Not enough to want to get too close to the man, but still, friendly.

“Ah, Iruka, it is almost midnight and a new year! I hope this next year will bring us better luck.” Ebisu gestured to all the coupled people around them. Iruka laughed brightly, he knew it was a long shot to find a midnight kiss here in only half an hour. Oh well, another year.

“You know what, I’ll cheer to that!” Iruka felt very secure with Ebisu, he knew what to expect from the man. He hoped Ebisu found a nice woman that would help him be more secure and less lonely as well.

“Cheers.” They clinked glasses and Ebisu downed his glass in one gulp. Iruka continued to sip at his, observing his fellow teacher. Ebisu was quite drunk for the normally very formal, stern man. “You know what? What is wrong with us? I’m a catch! Why am I here alone at this party?” Ebisu pouted through that last sentence.

“I have been thinking the same thoughts lately Ebisu,” Iruka admitted, hoping to comfort the tipsy man.

Ebisu looked at Iruka with a strange face. His eyes raked over Iruka’s hair, his eyes, his scar, then to his lips. It was 5 minutes until midnight and Iruka didn’t like the glint in Ebisu’s foggy eyes, so he turned around and high-tailed it out of the room.

Iruka found himself out on Anko’s bedroom balcony. He was alone, and he breathed a sigh of relief. “Drunk people are horrible.” Iruka said to the wind.

“That is an understatement, Iruka-sensei,” the wind replied. It replied in a dreamy, deep voice. Iruka blinked hard and spin quickly on the balcony, coming face-to-face with Kakashi. The Hokage, even though he was in simple uniform blacks.

“Hokage-sama!” Iruka dropped his glass in his shock. “Where did you come from?!” Kakashi wasn’t Hokage for nothing, he caught the glass before it hit the ground and handed it back to the stunned man. “Just Kakashi, please, I’m off the clock you see,” Kakashi smiled with both his eyes’ curving closed. Iruka was getting use to seeing both his eyes. They were so dark and expressive now. Maybe Kakashi was always so expressive, but with only one eye to show it, Iruka may have just had a hard time telling. 

The bell started to chime for the hour. DING. “Midnight already? Damn.” DING Iruka cursed. Kakashi looked shocked. DING

“Well, Iruka,” DING, “It’s bad luck to ring in the New Year alone.” DING “I’ll stay here with you.” DING.

Iruka turned back to the railing, looking over the city. DING. Kakashi joined right next to him, shoulder touching Iruka’s. DING.

“In fact,” DING Kakashi began, “it’s bad luck to have lonely lips as well.” DING. Iruka looked over at Kakashi next to him, so close. DING. Well, he said he was going to be bold tonight, didn’t he?

As the last DING rang through the city, Iruka reached up to his Hokage’s face, slowly pulled down the mask, closing his eyes as he did, and leaned in while tugging Kakashi’s face downward, placing a gentle kiss on the man’s surprisingly soft lips.

Since Iruka closed his eyes well before the mask was down, he didn’t see Kakashi’s eyes widen in shock, frozen in place. Iruka’s lips on his woke him and he wrapped his arms around Iruka’s waist suddenly and pulled his body closer, pressing against Iruka’s frame, leaning slightly down to press his lips harder against Iruka’s. For his part, Iruka’s voice rumbled in his throat as he felt Kakashi deepen the kiss, Iruka moved his head to the side to allow their lips to get even closer.

Kakashi felt Iruka’s head turn and deepened the kiss to match. What a turn of events! Kakashi wasn’t expecting this, but it was his first midnight kiss on New Year’s, and he wasn’t going to stop it now.  
Too suddenly, Iruka pulled away, lifting Kakashi’s mask back into place, opening his eyes, when he thought it was all back to normal. Kakashi reached up, gripped Iruka’s hands, still on his now masked face, and brought them down to rest on his toned chest, right over his heart.

“Maa, sensei, you will be tried to treason if you give me a heart attack tonight.” Iruka laughed boldly at the wild heartbeat he felt under his hand, ignoring how nice the pectoral muscles felt under his fingertips.

“It will be a murder-suicide, because my heart is going at the same pace,” Iruka countered. Kakashi laughed this time.

“That was a bold move, I have never had someone pull my mask down like that before. This will be a most lucky year indeed,” Kakashi said it with a smile. “That is, as long as you promise to do that again?”

Iruka blushed, but managed to reply, “I can promise more than that, if you wanted.” Iruka was being too bold now. He wasn’t sure what he just said, his libido must have taken over completely. “A date then?” Kakashi looked hopeful, or Iruka guessed it was a hopeful look, but it was hard to tell with the mask.

Iruka was shocked then, Kakashi wanted a date? Iruka practically threw himself at Kakashi just then (he blushed harder at the implication of his sentence and the innocence of Kakashi’s reply). “A date?” “There is no pressure, Iruka. If this was just a midnight New Year’s kiss, I will take it, but I wouldn’t mind a date,” Kakashi looked straight into Iruka’s eyes, his serious gaze piercing Iruka. It made Iruka snap back to reality.

“How about tomorrow, dinner?” Iruka blurted it out. He never expected this but should really take advantage of the situation to not have to eat alone. At Kakashi’s shocked expression Iruka backtracked, “I mean, of course you can’t do anything so last minute, you are the Hokage! What was I thinking? When would you want to go out? Do you want to go out to eat? I don’t know how to cook, but I could cook you something… or get takeout?”

Kakashi raised his hand to stop Iruka mid-rant, amused expression on his face. “Iruka, I would love to eat with you tomorrow, and I happen to be a great cook. Why don’t I cook you a home-made dinner at the Hokage residence? I probably won’t be late if it’s my own house.” Kakashi winked at Iruka. “It will be my treat, to thank you for that wonderful kiss.”

Iruka blushed, and Kakashi thought that nothing had ever looked so fetching on the man. “I would love to dine with you, Kakashi-san. The treat would be all mine. I don’t think any one has cooked for me since….” Iruka looked away, thinking of his parents, “for a long while to say the least.”

“You deserve to be treated to a meal, Iruka-sensei. Come over at 7? Is that OK with you?” Kakashi smiled at Iruka nodding enthusiastically. “And if you feel like you owe me still, I take payment in kisses at midnight.”

He disappeared as suddenly as he had appeared. Iruka couldn’t stop smiling as he returned to the party. Anko strolled up to him after jumping off Gai’s lap, and gave him a wet, loud cheek-kiss. “How was your New Year’s Iruka-babe?” Anko leered at him.

Iruka leered back, for once, he had something to smile about. “I had an amazing evening. As I always do, Anko. You are a great hostess. I will see you later.” Anko looked suspiciously at her friend, but decided not to drill him tonight. She had time and tonight, she wanted to test out her new wheels so to speak.

Iruka waved his goodbyes (most people too busy making-out or playing drunken games to really notice). The smile never left his face. Tomorrow. He had a date tomorrow. He wouldn’t have to eat alone tomorrow. The smile didn’t fall from his lips the whole evening.

“Happy New Year,” he said as he drifted off to asleep, excited smile still playing at his lips.


End file.
